Survival of the fittest - AmyMarie and Shadowfax

[UncoordinatedPisces]

Matt was leaning against the control panels with his head in his hands. He was furious. How dare she pretend she wanted it. He would of rather forced her. That Aaron as well, switching sides at the last minute. Of course, he should have known by the way Aaron reacted to seeing George and his silly little sister. He was going to get them, he was going to get them all.

His quite twisted thoughts were interuppted by the banging on the door. It was Jack. Growling, Matt stood up and flung open the door.
"Yes I'm in here goddammit!" he shouted, growling angrily. "You idiots found a way out?"

----

George watched Ashelin with worry, sympathy and pity. This girl was trying so hard to hold it all back. When the tears started flowing he tried to hold back his own. He sunk onto his knee's with her, and the yell sent unwanted shivers down his spine. Not being able to control himself, he pulled Ashelin close to him, hugging her.
"I'm sorry...I'm sorry he did this to you" he mumbled into her ear. "But I'm here now".

----

Aaron had found the torches at last. He switched one on and ahead of him was just the clearing he was looking for. It had enough room to set up the tents, build a fire, and was surrounding by tree's so it'd be hard to find.
"Here's good" he said, half to himself and half to the two younger persons with him.

Aimee nodded, Aaron walked past her and patted her back comfortingly. "You two stay here a minute, I'm going to scout out the area" he passed them both a torch. "Switch them on, it'll be too dark without them". The teenage girl watched Aaron move away, and the light went with him. She found the switch on her own torch and then looked down at Sam.

"I can't believe it either..." she responded, putting her arm around the boy. "I hope so too Sam". She could see he was worried about it. "There are a while away now, and they won't know the route we took".

[Shadowfax]

(Awww, i've missed Matt x) *Pats him on the head*)

Hearing Matt's voice, Jack felt somewhat relieved and somewhat scared. He didn't sound in a good mood at all, and that was what he was scared of. Matt took a fire extinguisher off the wall and began to hit the doors handle untill it eventually fell off and the door swung open. He saw Matt inside, looking rather battered. He also noticed a bruise forming on his cheek, so he guess Ashelin had a final punch before putting him in the room.

"Yeh, Harvey's found a way out. Are we gonna go after em boss?" Jack asked.

***

Ashelin was so distraught and full of emotion for the first time in her life she let George take her in his arms. She instinctively rest her head on his shoulder and felt herself comforted slightly as she sat there crying into his shoulder. She didn't know why, but she didn't feel as awkward with George as she did with everyone else. She clung onto his arm for comfort as the tears slowly began to stop and the pictures and scenes from that night with Matt began to disappear from her mind as she tried to enjoy being in George's company.

"George... Please don't leave me..." She whispered sadly.

***

Sam nodded as Aaron left them to go ahead and scout the area. He looked at Aimee and turned his own torch on and allowed her to sit next to him. He felt like this girl was a big sister to him and he felt he had to protect her too. It was almost like he was seeing these people as his new family.

"I hope they don't ever find us.. but.. If they don't know where we are then.. I guess we are ok!" Sam said positively.

[UncoordinatedPisces]

"Well, looks like Harvey proves he has a brain bigger than a walnut" Matt said, fairly surprised. He noticed Jack was staring at his face, he knew what was there, but that didn't give Jack the right to look at it. "What you looking at?" he hissed, pushing past the smaller man. At the question, Matt began to smirk. "No, not yet. Let them believe they're ok for a couple of months. We'll come after them though...we'll find them".

----

George put a hand on Ashelin's head softly, one arm still wrapped around her, holding her tight. He breathed in and out deeply, keeping himself from crying too and making things worse. He rocked her back and forth a little.
"I won't, I promise, no matter what" he whispered back.

----

Aimee smiled and ruffled Sam's hair. There was a rustling in the bushes that made her glance up though. For a moment, she panicked, but it was only Aaron who emerged, carrying a load of dry wood with him.
"Everything seems fine" he said with a smile.

"I'm going to set things up here. Aimee, will you go and get George and Ash?". Aimee murmured an agreement of sorts and stood up and walked away with her torch leading the way. "Hey Sam, could you help me put up these tents?" Aaron asked, holding up the bags of equipment.

[Shadowfax]

Ash allowed herself to be rocked back and forth. After the night she'd had with Matt this was a huge comfort. She sighed and wiped the drying tears away with the back of her hand for she had her hoodie tied around her waist. The bangles on her left arm jingled slightly as she moved her arm.

"I did it to punish myself for all the wrong i've done.... And I did it to keep you all safe. I had to get you out of there, whatever the cost. You... You three are the only ones who've ever stuck by me. I'll keep you all as safe as I can"

***

Sam watched Aimee go before turning back to Aaron. He was a little shy around newcomers sometimes, but he leapt to his feet when Aaron asked him for help putting the tents up. If George trusts him.. he's ok. And he didn't hurt Aimee, so he must be ok The boy thought, but at the same time some of Ashelin's suspiciousness had rubbed off on him. He took some of the posts and began to attempt putting the tents together.

"I've never been camping before..." He said to Aaron.

**

From the shadows in the trees a man of about thirty was watching them. He was dressed in a trench-coat and his face was full of stubble. He took a sip from a can in his hand before smirking at the two making tents. The man had been stealing from travelers and he wondered what valuables they had in their bags.

[UncoordinatedPisces]

George broke away from the hug and rested his chin on Ash's head. His lips curled into a small smile.
"Hey, you are the one who needs to be kept safe for a while. Don't say you're fine, because you're not". He reached for her hand and held it. "We are all very grateful to have you with us Ash".

Aimee had been watching from a distance, she didn't want to interrupt. She hadn't seen George act so emotional over someone other than herself, she did not feel jealous though. It was getting late though. She coughed to make her presence known and George looked up, pulling away from Ash. He got up to his feet and helped Ash onto her's.
"Aaron found a good spot then?" Aimee nodded.
"Yeah, I'll lead the way".

----

Aaron couldn't help bit grin at the kid. He liked him, and he seemed brave when he wants to be. Even though he was a little shy.
"Really? Well, you're setting up them tents pretty good". He paused to finish the two-man tent he was doing. There was a one-man tent that Sam was putting up and another two-man one. "My dad used to take me camping all the time when I was little".

[Shadowfax]

Ash forced a smile at that. She'd never been 'protected' as such by anyone. She had been the one who protected others so this was all new to her. When Aimee appeared she looked a little embarrassed to be caught out hugging her brother, but the teen showed no signs of awkwardness so for that Ashelin was grateful.

"I've not been in this part of the country before. But I know that the lake will be handy for filling up water and soothing wounds" Ash said, running a hand over her bruised stomach.

She followed the two of them back to the lake, a slight limp to her walk.

**

Sam smiled, pleased to hear he was doing a good job with the tents. Pretty soon, all three tents had been put up, though he was a little confused to who would be sleeping where. He looked around the clearing trying to focus his eyes as it was totally dark now.

"We should build a fire and toast marshmallows, sausages and tell ghost stories!" Sam said to Aaron.

"No, a fire would cause too much attention out here kid" The man in the shadows suddenly said, creeping forward to reveal an outline of a man.

Sam couldn't see him, so immediately stepped back in fright. The man then turned the torch he was holing on so it was under his chin.

"Boo"

[UncoordinatedPisces]

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll have empty bottles to fill up. It'd be a good chance to have a wash as well" George replied, not sure how it'd work but he didn't want to go another week without washing. Aimee was a little bit ahead of them, holding the torch to light the way she took up, just in case there was any dips in the ground.

---

Aaron began to laugh. Typical view of camping, he thought. He remembered his to be playing cards in the tent because it was tipping down with rain. His laughter was caught short when a man's voice sounded. He spun around to face it. He saw the man, face lit by a torch. He was a complete stranger, and not part of the gang. Aaron moved in front of Sam in a quick move.

He took his gun out of his pocket but did not point it.
"Who the f*** are you? And why the hell are you going around scaring kids?"

[Shadowfax]

"Army tactics. Set up base where you have cover, shelter, places to keep a look out and of course, access to water" Ashelin said.

She hadn't mentioned about her being in the army before, but she felt like she could talk to George and the others now after all they'd been through. Plus she wanted to take her mind off all the trauma that had been caused. She smiled to herself as she remembered her army days as they made their way back to the camp.

**

Sam aimed his torch at the man to get a better look at him. He was about thirty, wore a trench coat, had stubble all over his face, short black hair and big untrusting eyes. When Aaron stood infront of Sam, the mans eyes lingered on the gun in his hand for a moment. Slowly, he lowered the torch and pointed it at them.

"Easy friend, I don't want no trouble. And the kids easy to scare if that made him pee himself. I was only tryin to be funny" he said innocently looking at Sam.

[UncoordinatedPisces]

"Army?" George mused, looking curious. He had a feeling she had military training, but he hoped he could hear more about it. Aimee was hardly listening, her mind was in a different place. Almost a calm one. She liked the smell of the tree's and the grass.
"Almost there" she called back, being a bit of a distance away now. She could hear voices ahead of her.

"Then what do you want?" Aaron said, unamused and wearily. He did not like the look of this man. He wasn't sure whether he was secretly armed or not, and was afraid to let his guard down just in case. Rustling behind him made him glance around for a moment. It was Aimee, looking thoroughly confused and a little nervous about the new arrival. Aaron had his gun drawn, a definite sign that he thought this man was not friendly.

[Shadowfax]

"Just.. You don see many survivors these days. Comp'ny is all I want" The man said shrugging, trying not to be intimidated by the gun in his hand.

Ashelin trod her way carefully behind George. She slipped on the grass slightly and automatically grabbed his arm for balance. She felt embarrassed and guilty about the action almost immediately, so let go of his arm swiftly.

"Sorry" She muttered before walking ahead of him.

When they arrived at the camp however, Ashelin saw that Aaron was stood infront of Sam protectively and infront of them was a man of about thirty. Her glare hardened and she automatically went to her own pistol.

"You're a suspicious lot arn't ya?"

"If you had been through what we did, you'd be suspicious too" Ashelin said clicking the gun standing alongside Aaron.

"What do you really want?"

"I onl wanted some company.. But it looks like I came to the wrong ol place don't it? Fine.. I know where I ain't wanted" The man said, walking off in the opposite direction.